Goodbye is Just a "See you Later"

           Goodbye- such a strong word. Goodbye can mean a few different things. It could mean, “I’ll see you later today” or “ See you tomorrow.” In this case, I’m talking about the kind of goodbye where it’s an “i’ll see you later, much, much later.” We’ve all grown up around goodbye but I think the older we get, the more we develop, goodbyes become harder.
          My first stint with goodbye came when I had to say goodbye to my childhood friend, Polotimi. Now, I have no idea where she is today, or what she is even doing but let me tell you this, my four year old self was devastated. Even then, I already didn’t like goodbyes.
          Fast forward a few years, or about six and I’m leaving California to move to Texas. Now, most who know me now, know I love Texas. This was not the case 11 years ago. In California, I met a friend in kindergarden who became a sister to me. We were inseparable all the time. Our parents joked that “we were trouble.” I still remember saying goodbye to her like it was yesterday. Sitting at the pool, it was our last day in Cali and I cried and cried. I think I  may have cried halfway to Texas. Oh, I’m sure my parents really loved me that day.
        Jump to middle school- the time when I was 13 and I was right about everything. No questions asked. As I sat in my 8th grade math teachers classroom, she read us “Oh, the Places You’ll Go,” and she was crying. We all were so happy to finally be ready to go to high school. It wasn’t until later on did I realize the meaning of that book.
        Four years later, I land signing one of the most important pieces of paper in my life. I signed my life away to Rider University to play soccer. At that moment I realized my comfortable life in Texas would take a big shake when I moved across country to New Jersey. I couldn’t have been more excited, my parents on the other hand were terrified. Saying goodbye and graduating were sad for me but also so exciting and I knew that I would stay in touch with my friends from high school and for the majority, I did. I've found with goodbye sometimes comes the exciting feelings for new adventures. Saying goodbye to my family was more horrible for them. They cried a lot. (You know how moms can get) I did get a bit sad but I was also excited about this journey. It wasn’t until about halfway to NJ did I realize that I wasn’t coming back for a while, and that’s when that goodbye had set in.
        Now, I think this is where the story gets a little more interesting. This is where I started to grow and realize that my own actions and choices affect where I end up. I stayed at Rider two years. Two years growing friendships, two years having fun, two unforgettable years, but it just wasn’t in my books for staying there. This is when goodbye got hard. They say you don’t realize that you are leaving until the aftershock but I realized on my way to the airport that day. With my dorm packed, most of my goodbyes said, I just broke down. I think I cried the whole plane flight home. The good news there is I still have great friends that I met there and who I keep in touch with. Through that, I’ve realized that the best of friends, are always there for you, no matter the distance.
       Fast forward to now. The present. This is where goodbye gets really hard. I think these last two years of college at West Texas A&M has brought me to my closest friends. The friends who have seen me laugh, cry, get mad, throw things, they’ve seen my brilliance, my defeat and through it, they have still been by my side. I was supposed to graduate this year in May 2012 but due to some knee surgeries and changing my major, I decided another year at WT was in the books for me. Hey , I’m not arguing, just taking my college victory lap. Though staying another year meant more knowledge, soccer and fun for me, I’ve realized my friends don’t stay with me.
       Today, I said goodbye to probably the best friend I’ve made here at WT. I think we all know who it is. He’s been there from the beginning of my WT experience. Pushing me past two knee surgeries, pushing me through my switch to advertising. Winking at me during presentations to make my nervousness go away and never once doubting my ability to succeed whether it was in soccer, school or in work.
       This goodbye and the ones I’ve said in the last month have been the hardest. This goodbye hit me, before it even came. This goodbye might take a while to sink it, to realize that he’s in Cali and I’m still at school. I’ve never been much of an emotional person and if you ask any of my friends, I’ve just been a mess. I know that this is part of growing up, the hard part, the goodbyes. For me though, it’s a see you later. The true friends who I’ve managed to stay close with, I know I will see again. These people hold a special place in my heart.
       I know that this goodbye was the hardest yet but it sure isn’t the last goodbye I’ll face or that any of us will. In the next year, I hope to be doing the same thing, packing up my life in college and moving to pursue my dreams. I couldn’t be happier for my friends who have made their dreams come true and I know that I will be seeing them again. It's hard to say goodbye to the places and people you hold near to your heart. No one every said it would be easy but they did say everything was worth it.  For now, to all of my friends, It’s a see you later, not a goodbye.

History in the Making

         To say that these last five days have been an unforgettable journey is a complete understatement. It was surreal and unreal in so many ways. Buffalo Advertising started the journey to Austin early in the morning on Saturday. Most of us, didn't sleep because we were so excited. For the first time in the schools history, the NSAC team made it to the National conference among the top 19 schools in the nation for advertising. We were the smallest school there.
       When we arrived, we noticed other teams were arriving as well. We recognized some of them from their plans books and were a little bit starstruck. The team who BuffAD became close with, Alabama, or stachetag were one of the first teams we met. That day, we mingled and tried to take it all in: We were really there. We had made it. The AdAmerica conference was in full effect.

       We watched presentations all day Sunday. I remember walking out of the first presentation and saying to the team, "We're in the big shark tank now." We were in awe of some of the teams and how good they were. Unlike district, the national competition was not for the weak. Each team was strong in their ideas and their presentation. We knew we were good, but it was still intimidating. That night we had our final rehearsal before the big day. We presented at 8:50 Am Monday morning. My parents and sister and a few other parents of team members were there to support us, as well as people from District 10.
       The morning of the presentation was crazy and it seemed to go by so slow until it was our turn to present. DL, the giver of inspirational speeches, said her speech to us about being legendary and set the floor to us. Prior to competition, we had rehearsed for three weeks, got grilled on insane Q&A and maybe had a breakdown or two. Seeing the judges walking in, as well as a room full of people was incredibly scary. But, we were prepared, we were confident.
      Right before the timer asked us if we were ready, I looked at my team and said " Let's have every single person in this room walk out of here knowing who we are and what our presentation was." I could not have imagined our presentation going better. The crowd laughed and was having fun with us. The lights worked, the soccer ball move was flawless (hehe) and we, as presenters , had the most fun we have had presenting our campaign. There were no lines fumbled and it was slow like we had been told to do.
      When we finished our presentation, the first 5 rows of people stood up for a standing ovation including the judges. That's when it hit us, we literally were all almost in tears before the Q&A had started. We got asked one question by the judges and the rest was praise for our ideas and how well we put our presentation together. I looked out and our adviser was crying and we were so happy.

      The next two hours went so slow. We just wanted the results. Come lunch time, the winners were announced and BuffAd did not place top 4! You could see disappointment on our faces but we knew that we were among the best of the best. It wasn't until an hour later at the judges review did we learn we placed 5th place, only .9 pts behind the 4th place team and defending national champions. I remember running back and hugging everyone. We were so happy, we celebrated like first place. It's so amazing to think that we came in as the wildcard, barely making it and walked out beating both teams in our district and 147 other teams to rank in the top 5 in the nation. I get chills thinking about it.

     The rest of the trip was so amazing. Our team was able to network with industry leaders and the judges as well as some of the top Advertising people. We were able to hear from speakers from ESPN and the New York Times. We also go to tour two of the largest ad agencies in Austin, GSD&M and McGarrah and Jessee. I know I speak for my team as well as myself when I say that this experience has been amazing. Our team was able to bond and forge friendships  that won't end. We are so thankful for our advisers and for the opportunity to be among the best of the best. I know I can say that I am eagerly awaiting NSAC next year, for my last year of school. I'm also eager to get out into the work force and fulfill my dream of moving to NYC. I know after this last weekend, it is very possible for my dream to come true. We made history and I couldn't be more proud. "If you can dream it, you can do it." - Walt Disney.

Enjoying Every Opportunity

         I cannot believe we are a month into summer. It seems like that went by so fast. It's already June. Whew! "When one door closes, another door opens." This couldn't be more true in the last few months of my life.
        My internship with the High Plains Food Bank is in full swing and I love it. I have a great staff and great tasks(sometimes). Window washing proves to be a specialty of mine. Just kidding. Recently, we've had a big golf tournament and a few fundraisers that have gone pretty well. I am happy to say though, that I have made a break into more of a social media role and I couldn't be happier. I never thought of myself as much of a social media person, but seeing as social media is so huge and relevant today, I have come to love it and specialize.

       My other job, Marketing for Jump-N-Jive is proving to be a challenge but nothing I'm not used to. I didn't realize how much effort running a full marketing program took. I am ready to see where this challenge brings me. Jump-N-Jive is an inflatable playground that is a very unique kind to the Amarillo area. Needless to say, both of my jobs are different but being passionate about both, I love it.
      We are now within 24 hours of being in Austin for our National competition for NSAC. I can say that while my jobs have been interesting, this has proved to be the most challenging and rewarding. Once we found out we made it to nationals, the high quickly wore off. The presenters knew we had a challenge ahead of us. Along with our plans book that was judged, we still have a 20 minute presentation and a 10 min Q&A. We had our presentation and lines pretty well rehearsed but the Q&A has been such a challenge for all of us.
      On Wednesday we had a presentation for family, friends and faculty that went amazing. For three weeks we have stayed up late nights, cried, laughed, threw thing and have been super frustrated but I can say on behalf of all of us that we are ready.
     I am so proud to be a part of the first of something. We are the first team from WTAMU to make it nationals for NSAC. We are competing among some of the top schools in the nation: UPenn, Johnson and Wales, UC Berklee, UCLA , just to name a few. We leave tomorrow and get to spend the weekend networking and preparing. How cool would it be if we could place at nationals?! Half those schools have no idea who we are.

     Despite being horribly out of shape, I look forward to getting back on the field next year. There was a time this year I thought I wasn't going to be playing again but with every workout I am getting stronger. Every time I get back on that field, I remember why I fell in love with the game and I am ready to finish up my career as a college athlete. 

     It's so amazing to see where God has led me in the last year and I am excited to continue this journey. There have been ups and downs but every single thing pays off. I've got great friends, family , teachers and just amazing people all around me. One year from now I will hopefully be moving away to pursue my dreams in my field and it's so crazy to think where it all started and the journey that I've been on. As for now, I'll enjoy this moment, and every moment. 

Oh, The Places We'll Go

          You know that moment when we were all kids and we would talk to our friends or our parents and say "I can't wait to be in college" or "I can't wait to be on my own." Flash forward to that moment in your life when your friends are graduating college and your graduation is looming upon you and you immediately want to go back to those kid years. I can definitely say that in the last month or two I have realized that I wish time didn't move so fast. Everything lately has happened so fast.

      I went from two months ago, not knowing when I would graduate, not having a job or internship, not knowing if I'd play soccer next season or again and just a lot of unknowns. I started realized that some of my closest friends I have made here were graduating and I kind of freaked out. It was those months that tested  my faith and we all have those tests:  when you realize who is there , and who isn't. I feel in these times that we really grow as people. I know I did.

     These last two weeks have been filled with nothing but glorifying moments. I got told by the Dr. I was released to play soccer next season. I am happily announcing that I will be doing everything in my power to step on that field in the fall and come back to my full potential as an athlete. I also got offered a job with the High Plains Food Bank for the summer. HPFB is an organization that gives back to the communities around the panhandle and helps a ton of people in need. Just in my first few days, I have learned so much.

     The biggest moment came when we found out some exciting news that would change our futures. After the National Student Advertising Competition was over and we received 2nd, we all realized that it was over. We knew we had a chance at the wildcard but, what small school from the panhandle would ever get chosen? WRONG. We, Buffalo Advertising, were chosen as the wildcard entry for the National competition in Austin. We are competing among the top schools in the nation. We present right after UCLA. Unreal right? This made us all realize how hard we worked and how blessed we are with talent by students and professors alike.

     They say, what comes up must go down and that is exactly what i felt these last few months. It is amazing what faith, perseverance and hard work will do. I, myself, have never been more overwhelmed than some of this news that I have gotten. I truly do believe that God has his hand in everything we do. His plan is so much better than ours.

    With graduating upon us (not me, but my friends), I just want to say what a blessing this year has been. I have made some friends that I know I will be friends with forever. This is one of the moments  I wish I were graduating so I could go on and do amazing things because I know all of you will. I'm not one to get too sentimental but I know that this chapter is closing soon for some and for me, I still have a year left to complete this chapter of my life. In eighth grade my teacher read us the Dr. Seuss book, "Oh, The Places You'll Go" and then I didn't realize the true meaning of that book. Now, I realize that the sky is the limit. Seeing my friends going on to do great things only makes me want to make them and the rest of my community proud. For now, we will all have the memories, laughs, tears, angry moments, mad moments and the good ones all wrapped in our mind. What a blessing this all has been. Congratulations to all of my friends, class of 2012. 

Opportunities of a Lifetime

             In the last week, I have had the opportunity to see the man that discovered the Titanic speak, Bill Clinton and got to help students see what they are passionate about in their major. As this semester is winding down, I’m amazed at how busy I was and how I even made it out alive.

            Seeing Dr. Robert Ballard speak was an honor. As someone who used to want to be a marine biologist (that worked out huh?), I was intrigued about his story and how he got involved into what he loved doing. He spoke to us briefly about the Titanic but also his other discoveries, which included ancient Mariner ships, The Yorktown and The Bismark. The thing I got most from his talk was to follow your dreams. He set out to find the Titanic and he did, along with so much more

            President Clinton was the speaker on Tuesday night. He spoke in front of about 5,000 people from Amarillo and Canyon here in our First United Bank Center. For a small school like WT, having a former president come is incredible. Actually, this was the second time this has happened in 102 years. Clinton’s speech was about a lot of subjects including the memorial of flight United 93, healthy food in schools and farming resources.

            My favorite part of the night was towards the end of his speech.  Clinton touched on how everybody is 99.5% water. We are all 99.5% the same, the only thing that differentiates us is our skin color, hair, eyes, personality, etc.  He wanted to highlight the fact that we all have the opportunity to make a difference and at one point he referenced the younger crowd saying that we are the ones that have the most influence on society. We hear this a lot from parents, teachers and friends but coming from such a loved leader in our country, it meant a lot.  Having both of these speakers at WT was such a great opportunity that I am glad I was able to take.

            This week, our Buffalo Advertising team was invited to go to the Midland Advertising federation to present. We had previously presented to the Amarillo Advertising Federation, which was amazing. Going to the Midland performance, we were all tired and it was a three and a half hour drive for our 20 minute presentation. I don’t think we all realized though, how humbling this trip would be. We arrived and were graciously greeted by the head of their federation. The room was set up nice and they wanted to accommodate to whatever we needed. We gave our presentation over lunch to a room of about 50 people. At the end, we could tell some of the students from Midland College or the high school had never seen anything like that. One boy asked “Why didn’t you win first?” and another question was “Are you all employed?” Our answer: No, but we would like to be! We got a few laughs for that one.

            They all commended us on our presentation and we got asked a few questions by some of the older members in the crowd which we have been so nicely trained to answer by our advisors. The real joy came when we were able to just kind of take our jackets off and talk with these students. They were hesitant to come up to us but once they did we realized that they looked up to us. There were four girls and one guy who were talking to us. Most of these students wanted to pursue a career in Mass Communications. They had questions and comments about our futures and us and mentioned how passionate we all seemed about what we did: and we are just that, passionate.  To all of us, this was very humbling. During the semester, things are moving so fast that we don’t realize the opportunity that we were presented with to be able to work on this campaign and to be able to present. To me, that has been the biggest honor. Presenting to people like the AAF and Midland makes all the hard work; tears and late nights come together for something bigger than just the presentation. They say you don’t realize how good everything is until it’s gone. I must say, with the Midland Advertising performance being our last one until we find out about nationals, it’s bittersweet. If you asked me if I would go and do this semester over again, I ‘d say yes. It was all worth it.

Pocket Full of Sunshine

           It's hard to put into words how great this last week has been but also how much I didn't want it to end. We set off on Wednesday morning at 4:00 am to Shreveport. I felt like a kid on Christmas morning, barely being able to sleep, because I was so excited. It had finally hit me: A year of hard work was about to come into action at the 2012 NSAC 10the District Competition.
         When we arrived in Shreveport, all of us were exhausted but so excited to be there. We had orientation where we got our first look at other teams. I think that is when it all hit us that we were about to compete against some of the biggest schools in our district. To name a few: Texas State, TCU, OU, OSU, Texas Tech, UCO, Texas A&M and many other schools. I know the jitters of being there for the first time was a lot for all of us. That night, we had watched the first three competitors go, two of which were so-so and one which was really good. This kind of put into perspective that no matter how hard we worked, other schools probably had worked that hard as well. The presentation team spent the rest of that evening practicing our lines and our blocking.
        The next morning came way to soon. Oddly enough, I was confident and just a tad nervous. We got ready, all got in our suits and made our way to the practice room. Our advisers were there the whole way, still tweaking little things, the morning of the presentation. As we made our way over to the convention center, I was so excited.
        Our set up time was 9:50 am leaving us 30 min to set up before we had to present. Needless to say, we got everything set up quick and at that time it all became real. There we were, standing on stage, about to present our campaign to judges and other students. The doors opened and people quickly filed in. This is when it really hit. I looked out to see my mom, a few other parents, our teachers and classmates, and a few local AAF supporters and then a whole bunch of people from other schools. The next 20 minutes flew by. We delivered our pitch confidently, hardly any mess ups (which never happens with us), and smiled the whole time we did it. I think at that moment, I realized that I had made the right choice in my career path. That presentation made our whole almost year long of work, come together and made it all rewarding. We had a 10 minute Q&A with the judges which seemed to fly by as well.
      We played the waiting game the rest of the afternoon. At the awards banquet that night, they announced the special judges awards and then it was time to hear our fate. As they announced Texas State as the 3rd place winner, we all cringed. Texas State was a good competitor and we had a feeling we might be top two, hoping for first since it was flawless. When second place was called, and West Texas came out of judges mouth, we went up for our trophies. It was disappointing, there were some tears, but there was also a great sense of pride. We were sandwiched in between two of the biggest schools in the state of Texas. Texas A&M went on to win first and we were eagerly waiting to see their performance the next morning since we had missed it.
      The next morning, we saw the judges score sheet and the comments made. Our presentation was 1 point under the winning teams and our plans book was about 7. We had a ton of great comments from the judges and one even wrote, "Good Luck at Nationals" hoping we would have won. Overall, the learning experience was amazing. NSAC has taught me more than any other class has probably taught me. I was talking to a teammate last night and he said "I miss it already" and I had to agree. The experiences we had, and the way we presented all amount to so much. It's hard to not feel sad and happy at the same time. Something so big in our lives ended but we all gained so much from it. I am very blessed to have been a part of something so great. I hope to keep this legacy up for Buffalo Advertising and keep the name going as one of the top schools in the district. We still have a chance to make wildcard for nationals. Fingers Crossed!

     
       

  

NSA....Who?

Background Analysis : NSAC

1.     This blog will advance NSAC’s communication efforts by getting the word out that West Texas A&M actually has a competitive advertising team.

2.     The challenges with this blog would be the grace period in between the actual campaign and the research.

3.     The primary for this blog is to gain awareness around the Mass Communication department and the rest of West Texas A&M for the NSAC team.

4.     Our primary audience is students in college and teachers.

5.     The ideas for this blog would include weekly blogs from certain members of the team. It would also include an instructor’s point of view and update every few weeks along with some of the progress and struggles the team is having.

6.     To measure the blogs success we could see how many viewers it is having. Another way to measure the success would be to see how many people interact with the blog via commenting or sharing/retweeting

4/10/12

A year ago, if you had asked me what NSAC was, I would have looked at you with a blank stare. Now when you ask me, a sense of pride comes over me and I will tell you just about every detail of my life for the past year.

NSAC is known as the National Student Advertising Competition. Schools all over the country get one client. They research this client, make up a multi-platform campaign and present it in front of judges at the end of the semester.

West Texas A  & M has had a NSAC program for a number of years now. The last three years have really been break out years for the program. Last year, the client was JCPenny. They ended up getting runner up in the competition and a prize for best promotion. Since the team did so well last year, this years team has had a lot of weight on our shoulders.

Our client this year was Nissan. Most of the people on the team have been working in research since fall semester. We have worked hours and hours on end. From staying up all night working on plans book, to working every free moment on memorizing lines, we have come such a long way.

Now that we are almost at presentation time, I look back to where a lot of us were a year ago. I, myself, was a beginner Ad/PR student in the Advertising Principles class. The presentation team came in to present to our class, and right after that, I knew this is where I had wanted to be.

In two days, my goal is a bout to come true. The amount of pride I have for this program, I can’t even put into words. Of course, we wouldn’t be anywhere without our advisors and all the help they have provided us as students.  I know I don’t just speak for myself when I say, the NSAC team this year is proud of all that has been accomplished.